Honeymoon Lake Campground was the name of the place where I and my partner chose to spend a few nights on our road trip to Jasper National Park, located in Alberta, Canada. The park is surrounded by loads of places to camp and rest, but for some reason, we liked this one most of them all, probably because it is right next to a gorgeous lake called Honeymoon Lake, encircled by The Rocky Mountains. Gorgeous view, that I can say with all my honesty.
We got our tent, air mattress, food utensils, and everything we needed, and ready we were to sleep under the clear sky and bright stars. It was the first time for me to be there, camping in the wilderness, with every chance of encountering a bear or any sort of wild animal that can be located in the mountains, for that matter. I can’t deny that I was very tempted to choose the B&B option, a cozy comfy room with a cute view, but let’s face it, what view can be more sublime than?
During the day we went to visit some other attractions of the area, and returning we spent the remaining day by the lake, swimming ( or trying to not flip on the sloppy big rocks at the bottom), enjoying the sun, the nice weather, the calmness of everything around. It was pretty crowded, as we had barely found a place to get settled, but even so, it was just so much serenity in that place, with all the huge trees and enormous mountain peaks mirroring the lake. It was just perfect. We prepared the food, lit the fire…and as the night was setting in, we started to set up our tent and our improvised mini-bedroom.
Just before nightfall, you know, that amazing moment when the daylight is battling the darkness, and the sun has just gone down the horizon line, I went by the lake to contemplate the scenery once more; I’m a fan of sunsets, they just have a magical power over me and I get fully captivated by its force. There were no people around it already, since everyone was getting ready for the night, or simply enjoying time with their family and friends.
It was so peaceful…I mean that kind of peace where no wind was disturbing the water, it was a perfect mirror, the sky was still clear, still a little bright and no single tree was moving…you could swear it was going to be a lovely full of stars night type. But…
You know that phrase…the peace before the storm. Now it was about to become real.
I went back to the tent site to ask my hubby to join me. He was playing his guitar by the fire (no, I’m not making this up), and I asked him to come to join me because it was simply THAT beautiful that I couldn’t cherish the moment all by myself. So we went back by the lake together, it was just him and me. We sat on the stones next to the water just watching everything around us, listening to every sound, listening to the void. Then…we saw it. The lightning…Some clouds were forming in the far distance, with small lightning every few seconds. It was so far, that we couldn’t even hear it.
I even told him that there is no way the storm is approaching because it was simply too far! But oh, was I wrong…
In about 5 minutes the wind was coming closer and the storm was coming too…we could feel it in the air. I began to be terrified because we were in the middle of nowhere, with just a tent of, let’s face it, not so much security in the event of a strong storm. Things started to fall from the trees and a heavy wind was blowing already. In less than 20 minutes it started to rain heavily and by that time we were already inside of the tent.
And then…to make it even worse, the lightning began as well. I’m talking BIG, NOISY flashes of lightning. I could hear they were hitting close because of the loud sound of it. I was just feeling like they are hitting just right outside the tent. From what I could tell, they were mostly touching the mountain peaks near the lake, as it is known that they are likely to hit the higher surfaces. The rain was violently hitting the tent too, and I was feeling like at any moment the wind will blow the tent away and we will be there in the plain thunderstorm.
I could not fall asleep until the storm was over, a couple of hours later. I honestly felt like it was an eternity until the thunders were getting less loud and the rain was starting to slowly fade away. But there is a first time for everything, right?
The journal of a nomad. 
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